Weld and weld rod



SePt- 6 1949- F. K. BLooM 2,481,385

WELD AND WELD ROD Filed March 3l, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 'in amr/wc ra@ y Waar/v6' M O O L B K. F..

WELD AND WELD ROD 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Mamh.31, 1944 'im n wfvwww y Patented Sept. 6, 1949 WELD AND WELD ROD Fredrick Kenneth Bloom, Baltimore, Md., as-

signor, by mesne assignments, to Armco Steel Corporation, a corporation of Ohio Application March 31, 1944, Serial No. 528,968

(Cl. 'i5-128) 7 Claims.

My invention relates to welding, more particularly to deposit-welding and to the resultant Weld and welded products.

An object of my invention is the provision of a It may also be noted that the heretofore known Welding compositions differ markedly in ability to withstand corrosive attack, and thus it would be futile to employ certain of the compositions for method of producing fusible manufactures having 5 providing stainless welded joints in low alloy balanced constituents for deposit-Welding. steels or in high alloy steels including those of Another object of my invention is the prostainless quality. vision of deposit-welding electrodes which are In other instances certain austenitic welding suited for producing crack-resistant high alloy compositions of the prior art are unsuitable for steel welds in high or low alloy parent steel. fusion-welding hardenable steels either of low A further object of my invention is the proalloy content such as armor plate or high alloy vision of a method of Welding steel of high or low quality as for example hardenable stainless steel. alloy content which gives reliable control over the The hardenable steels are very diicult to weld by physical and metallurgical properties of the weld fusion deposition methods, one reason being that obtained. the conditions of Welding set up stresses which Other objects of my invention in part will be embrittle, weaken and frequently crack the Weld. obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter. An outstanding object of my invention accord- The invention accordingly consists in the comngly is the provision of chromium-nickel-manbination and proportioning of elements, composiganese stainless steel Welding or fusible filler rods tion of materials, and arrangement of parts, the 2o or electrodes which give strong, ductile alloy scope of the application of which is' indicated in steel Welds characterized by a lacking tendency the following claims. to crack either while being formed or after depos- In the accompanying drawing the Figure 1 iting, and which are useful in producing welds illustrates certain features of my invention, and in a wide variety of alloy steels including those Figure 2 illustrates, by means of charts, certain 25 of the highly hardenable grades. important results achieved through the practice Referring now more particularly to the practice of my invention. of my invention, I provide strong, ductile, crack- As conducive to a clearer understanding of cerresistant welds of austentic-delta-ferritic structain features of my invention, it may be noted ture in high alloy or low alloy steels such as in at this point that numerous welding compositions armor plate or hardenable stainless steels by of the chromium-nickel varieties heretofore emthermally fusing to the parent metal stainless ployed in the fusion deposition welding of steels chromium-nickel-manganese steel from a Weldare when fused substantially of purely austenitic ing manufacture such as from a rod or electrode, character, and as such are known on occasions in sucient quantity to eect welding. The rod to give welds which tend to crack, or which are or electrode employed is of such composition as lacking in strength or ductility. to yield a deposit of weld alloy, comprising 16% Asomewhat modified group of austenitic fusion to 22% chromium, 8.5% to 18.5% nickel, from welding compositions, namely chromium-manfractional percentages up to approximately 4% gallese and Chmmum-manganese-nickel variemanganese, not more than 0.15% carbon, with or ties, different from the substantially pure auswithout molybdenum ranging from fractional tenitic grades in that appreciable quantities of percentages up to about 2.0%, the total alloy conmartensite are included in the fused composition tent being at least 32%, and the remainder substructure, also are open on occasions to the same stantially all iron except for small amounts of objections as are the relatively pure austenitic incidental impurities. Because of losses in the materials. welding operation and other variables, the com- When an auStentC-marterlsti Welding 60mposition of the weld rod or manufacture is given position is deposited, the deposit is likely to be in terms of the resultant Weld deposit. A number hard, brittle and magnetic indicating that the of additional important features of my welding weld is no longer predominantly austenitic. There composition will be noted hereinafter. is also a frequent tendency for welds made from 5o To ensure the formation of strong, ductile welds austenitic or austenitic-martensitic metal tc having a structure which contains a beneficial crack as by hot cracking in the root passes at the amount of delta ferrite in an austenitic matrix, time the composition is being deposited, Which of and to avoid a deposit which is Wholly austenitic course seriously lowers the actual strength and and subject to hot cracking, the chromium, nickel, ductility of the weld. manganese, molybdenum when used, and carbon contents of the metal deposited by the welding rod or electrode, I find must bear a ratio or relationship one tothe other within the broad percentage ranges of ingredients already spe hed. An approximate relationship of ingredients, this being an important feature of my invention, is defined by the following formula:

The relationship given above is generally illustrated in Figure 1 of the accompanying drawing. It will be noted that any of the various broad percentages of ingredients stated hereinbefore may be substituted in the formula as called for, to arrive at the approximate proportion of ingredients in the deposit welds produced from the welding rods, or welding electrodes which I provide. Where no molybdenum is to be employed in the rod or electrode no molybdenum appears in the Weld deposit and a Zero percentage is substituted in the formula for the molybdenum term.

In the provision of welding rods or electrodes having a relationship between components thereof which yields a deposit substantially consistent lwith the terms of the formula as prescribed, it is also essential that the percentages of chromium, nickel, molybdenum when used, and manganese in the metal deposited by the rod or electrode total in sum at least about 32%. I iind that the deposit material, in which this approximate minimum total is maintained, gives welds which are relatively soit and ductile without tending to be brittle, particularly when the weld is formed under conditions where considerable dilution of the added metal by the parent metal occurs as in the welding of hardenable metal plates ranging up to a maximum of about 11/'2 inch in thickness. For greater thicknesses of plate as from 1% inches to 6 or more inches, I nd advantage in employing a percentage total somewhat greater than approximately 32% to compensate for increased dilution.

In way of illustration, the hardnesses of weld beads deposited by ,ls inch welding electrodes are compared Table I below with the total chromium, nickel, manganese, ymolybdenum content oi their substantially undiluted deposit analyses. In connection with comparisons drawn it will be understood that weld beads which exceed in hardness about Rockwell C25 become brittle and magnetic indicating that they are no longer austenitic and are, therefore, undesirable.

Table 1.--Weld compositions and hardnesses Maximum Undiluted Deposit Analyses Total Average Hard- Grade Mn, Cr, Eggs OIfJP-ead N Ni MO w en aid on Mn C1. Ni M o Hardenable Steel Bars 1 1. 54 19. 67 10.17 07 31. 4 Rockwell C39. 2 1.90 19. 75 9. 97 .07 31. 7 Rockwell C26. 3 1. 81 19. 00 9. 70 1. 44 32.0 Rockwell C21. 4 1. 98 19. 96 10. 08 1. 59 33. G Rockwell C23. 5 4. 47 19. 79 10. 02 .08 34. 4 Rockwell B93. 6 4. 56 19. 79 10.12 2. 88 37. 3 Rockwell B94.

As illustrative of the practice of my invention, I provide a chromium-nickel-manganese welding electrode having a wire or bar core and a coating, in which electrode or manufacture the total welding metal ingredients are present in such amounts to yield a deposit of any one of the 4 following approximate proportions, or in any other proportions approximately consistent with the formula noted hereinbefore, and the remainder substantially all iron except for small amounts of incidental impurities as indicated, for example, in Table II.

Table IL Weld compositions (a) 17% Cr; 2% Mn; 2% Mo; 0.1% C; and 12.08%

Ni (max.) 33.1% total alloy.

(b) 18% Cr; 2% Mn; 1% Mo; 0.1% C; and 11.33%

Ni (max.) 32.3% total alloy.

(c) 19% Cr; 2;% Mn; 50% Mo; 0.1% C; and

11.33% Ni (max.) 32.8% total alloy.

(d) 20% Cr; 2% Mn; 0.1% C; and 11.33% Ni (max.) 33.3% total alloy.

(e) 21% Cr; 2% Mn; 2% Mo; 0.1% C; and

16.75% Ni (max.) 41.75% total alloy.

(f) 22% Cr; 2% Mn; 1.5% Mo; 0.1% C; and

.16.75% Ni (max.) 42.25% total alloy.

The electrode welding meta-l ingredients are present in the metallic core and in the coating, the nickel and iron preferably being alloyed in the core together with most or all of the chromium for simplicity and economy of production. Any molybdenum included in the electrode preferably forms a part of the coating rather than a part of the core material, because fabrication of the core as by drawing otherwise is made diiiicult. I find it cheaper to provide vmost oi the manganese as an alloy element in the core, however, leaving a minor part in the coating particularly where fairly high manganese content, say about 4% is desired in the weld,

I maintain the sum total percentage of chromium, manganese, molybdenum when used, and nickel such as to give in the weld something above the minimum value of approximately 32% as will be noted in way of illustration from the several examples (a) through (f) just mentioned. In use, the electrode which incidentally may include a suitable flux material such as a ilux binder in the coating, is fused as by means of suitable arc welding apparatus onto parent metal members to be welded and, as deposited, provides in alloy the various welding metal .ingredients thereof to form a weld which is strong, ductile, and crack-resistant. Welds of exceptionally high quality are obtained in high alloy or low alloy hardenable steel through the use of my electrodes.

It will be understood that the formula which I employ is empirical, and that any specific proportion of ingredients established in terms of the formula may be varied somewhat and still remain within the scope of my invention. In way of illustration, the minimum amount of nickel permissible may be approximately 3% less than the maximum percentage as determined with the formula. On the contrary, if the amount of nickel exceeds by much the maximum amount, the weld deposit is likely to be low in ductility and strength.

If the nickel content is too low in proportion to the other elements included in the weld deposit, too much delta ferrite appears and the weld shows a decrease in ductility, although in this case no loss in strength has been noted. Figure 2 exhibits the effects of balanced and unbalanced composition on the tensile strength and elongation` of weld.

It is well known in the prior art that weld beads in root passes have a marked tendency to crack down the center upon being deposited,

particularly if the joint being welded is restrained. The cracking has heretofore been overcome to Some `extent by increasing the thickness of the deposited bead. It is not practical, however, to increase this thickness beyond about l/f, A far more desirable and satisfactory procedure is to provide weld deposit materials which are less sensitive to this defect as in accordance with the provisions of my invention. From Figure 1 of the accompanying drawing it will be seen that weld -compositions within the formula range are deposited without root cracking in bead thicknesses even considerabhT less than 1A; inch.

In addition to the data charted in Figure 2, there are listed below in Tables III and IV the tensile strengths and elongation values of samples out transversely from welds in hardenable steel plates. The actual values of nickel (l) in the samples are compared in each instance with the maximum quantities oi nickel (2) required by the formula. Although all of the Welds sampled show a sum total of chromium, nickel, manganese, and molybdenum greater than 32%, it will be noted that Welds (a) and (b), especially (2), have a somewhat high nickel content as com pared with terms of the formula and, therefore, have lower tensile strength and less strength in elongation than any of the welds (c), (d) and (e).

Table III .--Welol Deposit Composition Max Ni (2) Dii. be-

Allowed tween Ni By for- (1) and C Mn Gr M0 Ni (1) mula Ni (2) Table IV.-Physz`cal Properties of Welds 0f Table III Elongation UlttTrens. Elongation Across WeldMetal P. s. i. Per cent Per cent Thus it will be seen that in my invention there are provided a balanced deposit weld and methods of producing the same as well as the fusible welding rod or electrode employed in producing the same in which the various objects noted herein together with many thoroughly practical advantages are successfully achieved. It will be noted that the manufactures, for example rods or electrodes, are of such metallic contents as to give stable austenitic-delta-ferritic stainless alloy steel Weld deposits which in finished welds are strong and ductile and have no substantial tendency to crack or become eX- cessively hard. It will also be noted that small beads of alloy metal deposited from my welding metal do not tend to crack in the course of forming a Weld.

As many possible embodiments of my invention may be made and as many changes may be made in the embodiments hereinbefore set forth, it will be understood that the matter described herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not as a limitation.

I claim:

1. An electrode for deposit Welding of such composition as to yield an austenitic-delta ferritic deposit comprising, in combination, 16% to 22% chromium, 8.5% to 18.5% nickel, from fractional percentages up to 4% manganese, and not more than 0.15% carbon, in proportions substantially consistent with:

the chromium, nickel, manganese totalling at least about 32% but under 43%, and the remainder substantially all iron.

2. An electrode of such composition as to yield an austenitic-delta ferritic Weld deposit comprising, in combination, 16% to 22% chromium, from fractional percentages up to 4% manganese, 8.5% to 18.5% nickel, from fractional percentages up to 2.0% molybdenum, and not more than 0.15% carbon, in proportions substantially consistent with:

Maximum SwllQ--l the chromium, manganese, nickel and molybdenum totalling at least about 32% but less than 43%, and the remainder substantially all iron.

3. A weld electrode for deposit welding having a metallic core and a. coating therefor, said electrode comprising, in combination, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, manganese :and carbon with the remainder substantially all iron, in proportions to yield an austenitic-delta ferritic weld deposit containing `at least 16% chromium, at least 8.5% nickel, together with appreciable quantities of molybdenum and manganese, the total alloy content being at least 32% and being substantially consistent with: Mmmm N,= %gfi 2 /MO 1ir the nickel and iron constituents together with a substantial portion of the chromium being alloyed in said core, and with a substantial portion of the molybdenum being in said coating.

4. An electrode for deposit Welding having a metallic core and a coating therefor, said electrode being of such composition as to yield an austenitic-delta ferritic deposit comprising, in combination, 16% to 22% chromium, from fractional ypercentages up to 4% manganese, 8.5% to 18.5% nickel, from fractional percentages up to 2.0% molybdenum, and not more than 0.15% carbon, in proportions substantially consistent with:

the chromium, manganese, nickel and molybdenum totalling at least about 32% but less than 43%, and the remainder substantially all iron, the nickel and iron constituents together with a substantial portion of the Chromium, and manganese being alloyed in said core, and with a substarrtialA portion of.v the molybdenum being in said coating.

5. A crack-resistant weld of austenitic-delta ferritin structure for ira-rdenable steel', said weld comprising 16% to 22 chromium, 8.5% sto 18.5% nickel, from fractional percentages up to 4% manganese, up to=2.0% molybdenum, and not more than 0.15% carbon in proportions substantially consistent with:

Maximum %an+3o(o.1o%c +11 the chromium, nickel, manganese and molybdenum totalling at least 321% but under 43%, and the remainder substantially yall iron.

6. A crack-resistant weld of :austenitic-delta ferritic structure comprising 16% to 22% chromium, 8.5% to 18.5% nickel, appreciable molybdenum and manganese together with carbon in proportions substantially consistent with:

and minimum nickel about 3 less than said maxinnnnv value,` and the remainder principally iron exceeding 57% :but not exceeding 68%.

7. A crack-resistantl weld' of austenit'ic-delta ferritic structure, said weld essentially including 16% to 22% chromium, 8.5% to 18.5% nickel, fractional: percentages up to 4% manganese, and

8 not more than 0.15% carbon in relationship substantially consistent with:

and a remainder principally iron exceeding 57% but not exceeding 68%.

FREDRICK KENNETH BLOOM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Molybdenum, vCerium, and Related Steels, pages 28 to 30. By Gillet and Mack. Published 1925 by the Chemical Catalog Co., N. Y.

Alloys 0I Iron and Chromium, vol. II, Low Chrommm, :page 414.v Published in 1940 by the Mc- Graw-Hill Book Co., N. Y. 

